The Cup won't even be 2 months from it's final match, when the 2009 process starts. South Florida has to be the worst and most bizarre set up amongst all of the other regional qualifiers. The process starts with the Copa Lowe's in November and then into Copa Latina qualifiers at the end of the year. With the above information being what it is, the FESL has awarded three teams from the 2008 season a berth into the 2009 regional qualifiers which start up in November of '08. The Space Coast Strikers, Palmeiras F.C. & Palm Beach A.S.C. have all been granted berths into the 2009 US Open Cup. Palmeiras F.C. is full of players out of college and from the area, so they will have a complete team to field. The interesting process will be seeing how the other two clubs work out. With both teams fielding college based players, it will be interesting to see how and when the roster's will be frozen during the qualification process.
What reason do we have to think that the Copa Latina will actually participate in Open Cup qualifying? In 2008, they SAID they were going to submit their winner to the tournament, but never bothered to file the paperwork. I'm not even sure they had any intention of participating. Don't get me wrong, if they DID...it would be great. But I was really disappointed when they bailed on the Florida tournament. Another sour taste from last year is that I tried to do a story about the tournament, since we thought this could be a great addition to Open Cup qualifying, and they never called me back or replied to any emails. Never. And I kid you not, I probably made about a dozen phone calls, leaving messages with various people...each time, assurred that the person in charge would call me back. Never happened.
My bad for the late reply... totally forgot I wrote something about the '09 Open Cup. As for the folks who run the Copa Latina... couldn't agree with you more. It's truly ashame that a tournament as well supported and funded as the Copa could be run so in the dark. Most teams are in the Copa to win the cup but that's it... no one has the desire or the funds to continue their run any further then winning the cup in Miami. I've been trying for years to get the folks associated with Copa Latina to make the process easier or in the very least a tournament that isn't based around Dade/Broward country teams. It's bad enough you have to travel down to Miami when you're in my neck of the woods (St. Lucie County 2 hours north) but now it's mandatory to change your club name to one that represents a nation... plus you can't have a duplicate nation either. If we do send a team or two into the Copa Latina...I'm going to make sure we represent one of the more less represented nations such as Iceland or Cyprus... amazing what a joke the process has become down here in South Florida. Fingers crossed that once the FESL makes the jump from the AAU to USASA that there will be another qualifier based in St. Lucie... and we'd be happy to return your phone calls.
2009 eh? We've heard lots of rumbling about MLS looking at ways to ease up on scheduling congestion. Might they change their USOC participation procedure again? It's possible that MLS will take the month of July off, and have their teams play in other tournaments like the USOC and Superliga during that condensed timeframe. Another possibility is that MLS won't send all their teams to the USOC. It might be something like teams #1-4 going to the Superliga, and teams #5-14 going to the USOC. (Not saying it'll happen, just saying it's a possibility.)
God, I hope not. Superliga is nothing but a way for SUM and the Mexican teams to flex their pimp hand. SUM only cares about making money for SUM. That's why MLS teams don't even receive half of the TV money generated by the league! USOC > Superliga
You can't mix apples and oranges here. USOC does not equal Superliga. Superliga is that crap tourney with the FMF clubs. The US Open Cup is our FA Cup and sadly Garber hasn't treated it with the respect it deserves. They should just stop with the crap Superliga & just concentrate on the two things that makes US Soccer great domestically and to improve internationally. The US Open Cup & the new CONCACAF Champions League. Superliga should be thrown away. The only reason the TV revenues are so great is because it's on Telefutura/Univision and the Spanish viewers are watching.
I'd much rather the bottom MLS teams go to Superliga or it goes away and the top MLS teams go to the US Open Cup. Combining MLS, USL-1, USL-2, PDL, and USASA, about how many different teams have a chance at qualifying for the US Open Cup?
I wonder how MLS will qualify teams for the cup next year. Really, they should just invite the top 8 teams rather than waste any time playing qualifiers. Although it's too bad the OC doesn't invite all 14 American MLS teams, that would be the best option.
agreed, the Superliga needs to go away. in order of importance: 1. MLS - the league is the bread and butter. 2. CONCACAF champs lg 3. USOC i'd love to see the structure of the cup change to include every professional club, just as it does in the FA Cup in England. as soon as eastern pa draw is set up, i'll get the info up here.
A little 2009 Open Cup Info... Florida -- Copa Latina will again use their tournament as the qualification process to enter regional group 3. History is going to repeat it'self as the teams entering are all but carbon copies of years past. No one will be going through via the Copa, including the FESL. The FESL will be entering clubs inconjunction with the USASA as the FESL is expected to move away from their current AAU status. Group 3 Regionals will be in Jacksonville this season, Patton Park will be hosting the festivites. As of now, one FESL team will infact be entering the tournament, the Open Cup darlings themselves, Jacksonville L.I.P.F.C. / DS United. As of now the regional qualifiers are set be hosted as such : Four Regional Sites -- LaGrangeville, N.Y. Stringham Park* Jacksonville, Fla. Patton Park* San Bernardino, Calif. San Bernardino Soccer Complex Lawrence, Ind. Lawrence Soccer Park
Eastern Pa just had their draw and play starts on November 2nd. Quarter Finals 11/2/08 A1 UGH - MAJORS A2 DANUBIA B1 KEYSTONE PRIDE B2 UKRAINIANS C1 PA RUSH C2 PHOENIX MAJOR D1 HUNTER D2 VE MAJORS Semi-Finals 11/16/08 E: Game A Winner vs Game B Winner F: Game C Winner vs Game D Winner Finals 12/7/08 Game E Winner vs Game F Winner Will UGH be able to go for a repeat? Will the Ukies win it for the 3rd time in 4 years? Or will Phoenix match their cup form with their league form and take their first Open Cup?
Now that the regular season is over for MLS, we can look at a possible way that the MLS teams will line up for the USOC next year. Heavy emphasis on the word "possible", however, because there have been rumors floating around that MLS might look at some schedule changes next year, including not only the league, but also Superliga, USOC, and everything else. So if MLS completely changes the way their teams participate in the USOC, this is a hypothetical look at nothing. But, if MLS were to keep the same qualification set-up that they used this year, next year's qualification/play-in games might look something like this: 1st round Seattle vs Dallas San Jose vs LA Galaxy 2nd round Seattle/Dallas winner vs Colorado San Jose/LA winner vs DC United 3rd round SJ/LA/DC winner vs Real Salt Lake SEA/DAL/COL winner vs New York Red Bulls 2 winners advance to play the usual minor league sides in the USOC, along with CLB, HOU, CHI, NE, CHV, and KC. Of course, MLS might take a look at geographical considerations too, and put NY and DC in the same bracket, and RSL and the Rapids in the same bracket. But it's all just speculation at this point. If MLS decides to change how they enter the USOC next year, we may not hear about it until February or so.
http://csrnusa.com/feuersteinsfire/?p=87 My blog on Champions Soccer Radio Network on what I think the 2009 US Open Cup should be. Please comments are welcomed at the bottom.
agh, the crisp air and falling leaves means one thing to the clubs in eastern pa: cup season. can't wait to travel down and enjoy the first round of the open. will post results as soon as they're known. for info on some of the teams, go to: www.unitedsoccerleague.us
www.usopencup.com is incorrect. Phoenix won their match, not PA Rush as stated. (I know, I scored the goal)
Bavarian Wins Wisconsin Title Bavarian Wins Wisconsin Title Milwaukee club will play in USASA Region II tourney next spring. http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/usopen/message/1117 Bavarian SC took the first step towards claiming its sixth U.S. Open Cup berth, beating the visiting Milwaukee Kickers 3-0 in the Wisconsin final on the night of Tuesday, October 28th in Milwaukee. Goals were scored by Blair Kohlmeyer in the first half and Brian Doherty had two goals in the second half. It was the second straight year the teams met in the state final; last fall, Bavarian won 3-1. The win gives Bavarian a berth in next spring's U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II tournament. Bavarian Soccer Club Information: * Club URL: http://www.bavarian soccerclub. com/index. php * Bavarian Soccer Park Map URL: http://tinyurl. com/Map-to- Bavarian- Soccer-Club * Address: 700 West Lexington Boulevard, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53217 Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club: http://www.mksc. org/
VE warmed up with a 4-1 Amateur Cup win this weekend. UGH advanced with a 2-0 amateur cup win. phoenix beat the ukranians 6-1 in the amateur cup. November 16th: PA East Semi-Finals Ukies host UGH Phoenix host VE
Correct. So that means KC & NY will wait for all the MLS clubs to go thru qualifying and they will be the last line of the brackets before two sides takes the last spots in the 3rd round for 2009. I'm hoping that these MLS Cup Qualifiers will end and everyone can go in automatically as a pro side from MLS to USL-1 to USL-2.